Matthew Squires - Tambaleo (Already Dead Tapes)

Artist Info: Matthew Squires is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas. Since 2012, he and his ever-evolving band have released five critically-acclaimed albums which have been praised by Brooklyn Vegan, USA Today, Performer Magazine, Largehearted Boy, Surviving The Golden Age, Magnet Magazine, and many others.

With his distinctive vocal style and penetrating lyrics, Squires has carved out a unique niche for himself within the realm of indie pop, creating an idiosyncratic sound that manages to entertain and enlighten in equal measure.

In the two years following the release of his last album, Squires has split his time between a monastic Buddhist community in rural east Texas and his hometown of Austin, where he has been hard at work on his new album, Tambaleo, which will be released by Already Dead Tapes on January 20, 2017.

Tambaleo is an auditory joy from beginning to end. While it follows the familiar path of subtly offbeat psychedelic pop that he laid down in previous albums, Squires seems to have brought his unique sound to full maturity on this new work. His mastery over the craft of songwriting is on full display, with enigmatic lines that are at times as funny as they are heartbreaking.

His backing band, too, has outdone itself with this album. The styles and influences of the arrangements vary widely from track to track, drawing from artists as diverse as Television, Paul Simon, and early Modest Mouse. The songs consistently manage to surprise with a peculiar — even ironically self-aware — twist on a tried-and-true approach. Squires has taken up and fully met the challenge of drawing a great amount of influence from a wide variety of artists, while managing to tie them all together in a way that is wholly unique.

In an era with so much music so widely available, it’s a great relief to hear something which stands out so firmly. Tambaleo is an album of truly masterful songwriting which offers to touch your heart, mind, and spirit in one stroke, leaving you a little better off than you were before you heard it.